Gay pastors and my childhood Lutheran upbringing

I saw this story "trending" on Facebook. I was originally going to post there, but decided to do a full blog post instead.

The Rev. Matthew Makala, associate pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Midland, Mich., has resigned his position after getting "busted" for looking for hookups on a gay mobile app/website.

I wasn't sure what "audience" settings to use on Facebook, and I'll explain why.

I figured Rev. Makala was from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the denomination where I was raised, as a preacher's kid. It's the main conservative denomination within the Lutheran tradition, and would be considered on the conservative end of evangelicalism. (Conservative Lutherans, related to why the history of Lutheranism in America often gets short shrift, don't like being called "Protestant," saying that should apply only to Calvinists. They also don't like being pegged as "conservative evangelical" or "fundamentalist." If one believes in a different version of "fundamentals" than J. Gresham Machen's one for Presbyterians and other Calvinists, the name fits, though.)

Anyway, a number of fellow family members are on Facebook. I'm not friends with all of them, but those I don't have friended, are "friends of friends." I do have most my family on a "very religious" sublist. I often, for things like this, post to "friends of friends" but with the caveat of NOT sharing with "very religious."

I thought about posting to "friends of friends" and letting the chips fall where they may. Then, I decided I wanted to go longer with this.

Back to the main thread for that.

Speaking of Makala? Well, here is the gay side of his life.

For people unfamiliar with the LCMS, it still is officially anti-evolution, still believes in a literal interpretation, and literal inspiration of writing of, the bible, including creationism. It is officially pro-life (though I'm left of center on that, I'm not on the far left on that issue). And, it still is, no other way to put it, anti-gay rights.

No, it's anti-gay. Seeing being gay or lesbian as sinful, let alone a choice and nothing but a choice, is anti-gay. Beyond obvious reasons, to the degree particular gay/lesbian sexual activity may be a choice, so is particular heterosexual activity.

So, it's anti-gay, where I come from. Having a number of gay and lesbian friends and acquaintances, and having seen a number of them, for various reasons, struggle with self-acceptance, such churches need to accept biological reality.

The denomination is fine on continuing to oppose gay marriage if it wants. It's not fine for Makala to compare being gay to being alcoholic, and seemingly perpetuating misunderstandings of both LGBT issues AND alcoholism.

Or, per another Qweerty story, you can take down your Facebook page and continue the denialism.

After all, per that link, the senior pastor at Makala's church, Rev. Daniel Kempin, seems to be perpetuating the idea that gays are all perverts, and perverts seeking to "convert" heterosexuals:

“It is my grief to inform you that Pastor Makela announced his resignation as a pastor of St. John’s through a letter that was read in worship on Sunday, May 17,” he begins. That’s the day before the story broke here. 

To make matters worse,” he continues, “the details of sin that have been kept confidential are being posted online by those who seek to do harm to the Makela family and to St. John’s. This is taking an already difficult situation and making it even more painful… The facebook pages associated with St. John’s have been taken down in an attempt to remove the opportunity for malicious posters to have access to St. John’s members…”

So, it's "worse" to expose hypocrisy rather than let it grow like mushrooms, with the same fertilizers as mushrooms? And, that "access"? As in the gays all want to convert your members? 

Even if I hadn't moved all the way to secularism/atheism, things like this are why I wouldn't be a fundamentalist/conservative evangelical Protestant. Sorry.

As for posting edits? The Networked Blogs application automatically posts my blog posts to both Twitter and Facebook. It posts to "friends of friends."

And it will with this post, too. My family can do, and say, what it wants.

As for that family? Starting with the preacher who made me a preacher's kid? Sorry, but dad was some level of racist — not sure exactly how much, and maybe even I don't want to think about that more — some level of misogynist, and we didn't even talk about "teh gay" beyond jokes.

About those Tim Tebow-Manti Te'o gay rumors

I have heard the occasional insinuation that Manti Te'o, the overrated Mormon linebacker from God's Catholic university, Notre Dame is gay, and that's why Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was able to prank him with a fake girlfriend, or even that the prank was Te'o's "beard."

I've also heard speculation that New York Jets (for now) quarterback Tim Tebow is hiding gay tendencies behind his conservative Christian sexual chastity.

And, more recently, there's even been rumors about the two of them together.

So, I'm here to put the kibosh on that.

Manti Te'o did not run an ungodly slow 4.8 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine because he and Tebow had a spat the night before.

Tebow has not promised to write Te'o's name on his shoes next year.

Te'o did not start crying recently because Tebow told him he'd always be a "bottom." Absolutely not true.

Tebow also has not said he will request the Jets trade him to whatever team drafts Te'o. Just not true.

Tebow did not cancel his speaking appearance at a Dallas Baptist church because he was worried about either one of them being outed. Absolutely incorrect.

Now that I've set you straight, heh, heh, back to your regular Internet programming.

Another gay Republican exposes himself

Once again, we have an undercover gay Republican coming out of the closet, err, men's room stall.

The Indianapolis Star has the pertinent info up front:

Andy Miller has resigned as commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, one day after his arrest at a Downtown public restroom on a charge of public indecency.

In case the important angle isn't clear, let's look at this graf:

Miller, a 40-year-old Carmel father of three, was arrested Wednesday after police say he exposed himself, masturbated in front of an undercover officer and asked that officer to touch his genitals in the men’s bathroom at Claypool Court.

Men's bathroom. Obviously a male cop.

Miller reassured officer Eric Simmons that they were safe from interruption because the restroom's two doors would provide plenty of warning.

Yet, even a blog like TPM fails to pick up on the gay angle.


I'm surprised John Aravosis hasn't picked up on this angle yet at AmericaBlog.

McCain Chief of Staff ‘outed’

John McCain’s Senate Chief of Staff Mark Buse won the Roy Cohn award last Friday.

Given that McCain is on record as saying that he favors banning gay marriage, just at the state level, but that he would support a Defense of Marriage Act if Califfornia and other states start OKing gay marriage, AND given that Schmuck Talk Express™ supports Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as a senator who is a veteran …

I think Buse’s outing is richly deserved.

If you want to add to this, you can reach Focus on the Family at 1-800-A-FAMILY (1-800-232-6459)! Thank them for supporting John McCain today!

Contrary to some, I don’t feel sorry for Larry Craig

An e-mailer to Talking Points Memo says s/he’s kind of willing to cut Craig some slack:

Sure, he’s a hypocrite, sure he’s probably gay or bi or whatever, and sure, I despise his politics. The problem is, I'm torn between the schadenfreude of watching another one of the Family Values crowd being shown up, and feeling really bad for the guy, because he didn't do anything.

Look at the police report. Did he directly ask a cop for sex? No. Did he expose himself lewdly (as opposed to exposing himself to use the facilities)? No. Did he do anything that was unambiguously sexual? No.

I, on the other hand, feel nothing but schadenfreude for Craig at this time.

The people I feel sorry for is gays and lesbians, especially in places like Idaho (next door to Matthew Shepard's Wyoming!), where gay and lesbian visibility is almost totally beat down because of people like Craig.

As for the e-mailer’s later Walter Jenkins reference (the LBJ aide arrested more than 40 years ago in similar circumstance), it’s ultimately the fault of gay-bashers like Craig that people still get picked up in men's rooms for somewhat iffy solicitation charges. Assuming Craig has been self-knowingly in the closet for the decade or more that seems to be the case, he knows the rules of the game on anonymous pick-ups, too. He's got nobody but himself to blame for causing the rules to be what they are, and for playing by them, rather than being honest and true to himself and living out his sexual preferences without squalor.

Amen to outing Foley — the MSM fails again

Michelangelo Signorile has it exactly right: the mainstream media should have outed Mark Foley long ago. Sexual hypocrisy within the GOP, especially gay sexual hypocrisy, is a legitimate news issue as well as a legitimate political campaign issue.

Although homosexuality, like heterosexuality, is not inherently dangerous, repressed sexuality — whether it's repressed homosexuality or repressed heterosexuality — certainly can be harmful when the dam bursts.

Foley lived in a glass closet in Washington, where many people, we're now being told, assumed he was gay, even as he orchestrated a lie for the voters of his district with help from the media both in Washington and at home in Florida. …

The standard (for outing) should be simple: If a public figure's homosexuality is relevant to a larger story, then the public should know. Foley voted for an anti-gay law, which should have been reason enough for the press corps to expose his hypocrisy. When aspects of a public figure’s heterosexuality are relevant — past relationships, marriages, children, divorces and the like — the media dutifully report on them, whether or not the subjects approve of such reporting.

Fortunately, the growth of blogging, and the growth of in-depth, or specially focused, work by some blogs, means that the MSM’s monopoly of silence is eroding.